Stay By My Side
by Weeping Blood
Summary: Lives will be lost, bonds will be severed. Find out what happens when a young Hinata has to make a difficult decision involving her new best friend Naruto. And what's going to happen to his parents? (Modern AU and MinaKushi as a side pairing)
1. The Beginning

A/N: Now, this is a fanfiction I see myself dedicating to writing. Although, I want to first finish some of my other stories on the side. Ugh I hate how these ideas spring up in my mind when I have to work on OTHER stories. D: But anyway, in this fanfiction... Naruto and Hinata are around 6 to 7 years old. If I make a sequel, I'll make it so that Naruto and Hinata are both 16 years old, and have them do mushy-gushy shit. lol. Although, this chapter will have a lot of side MinaKushi. I'm sorry, but it's related to the other chapters. I swear. ;3; This story won't have too many chapters hopefully since I plan to make each of them as long as possible.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

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><p>A white van pulled into a driveway. Out stepped a small, petite, and rather shy looking girl with dark blue hair. Along with her dad, sister, and mother who followed after she got out. The blue haired girl's name was Hinata Hyuga, she was born in the Hyuga family. Hinata lived with her sister Hanabi, her father Hiashi, and her mother Hanahime. Looking up, Hinata's lavender eyes spotted a marvelous house that was she going to live in, it wasn't a mansion but it was large, the bricks were white, and the roof was a light blue, the windows were spiffy clean with pearl-white curtains that hung from them.<p>

Everyone except Hinata walked inside, since she wanted to check out the flowers from the garden out front. Walking towards them, she took a whiff of a white rose and exhaled with a cheerful smile. Blinking, she noticed a neighboring house next to hers which contained a peculiar blonde boy with who she assumed was his dad.

''No fair dad!'' The spikey blonde haired boy whined, ''Why can't I ride my bike?''

''Because,'' His father, who resembled the boy greatly with his similar blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes. ''Last time, you rode into the tree.''

''But, but, but, but, I promise I won't do it again!'' The boy went on his knees, begging with his hands clamped together. His lips pouted pleadingly, which caused Hinata to giggle at the little scene, Naruto looked towards her and she quickly scurried inside to avoid his gaze.

Ignoring the girl, the boy continued to give his dad a puppy face. Sighing, the father decided to give up. Ruffling his son's hair, he kneeled down to the boy's height. ''Naruto, you know how worried your mother and I get when you do stuff like that.''

''You make it seem like I'm going to ride off a bridge, dattebayo.'' Naruto puffed his cheeks childishly, and crossed his arms while glaring at his dad.

''As much as I want to help you out, your mom will kill me if I give you back your bike.'' Naruto's dad hung his head down in disappointment before standing up.

''You guys suck, 'ttebayo!'' He kicked his dad in the shin, causing him to bend down in pain and then Naruto ran inside.

''Kushina will most certainly kill me...'' Naruto's dad muttered while rubbing his sore leg.

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><p>Hinata's chest heaved up and down in a fast pace, her heart's beat speeding up rapidly. She glanced out the window and saw the boy was gone then let out a sigh of relief.<p>

''Neeeeeeeeeeee-chan's got a crush!'' Hanabi teased. Hinata turned around, with her cheeks turning pink, along with the heat soon rushing to her face.

''N-No, I d-don't h-have a c-crush o-on a-anyone!'' Hinata spoke, stuttering more than usual from being flustered.

''Nee-chan's talking weird...'' Hanabi tilted her head, lavender eyes blinking curiously at her older sister.

''Shhhh!'' Hinata put a finger to her lips, not wanting her father to overheard their conversation since she knew he'd disapprove of her being interested in any kind of boy, even though she was only 6 years old. Letting out a sigh, she went up to Hanabi.

''Please don't tell father about this, okay Hanabi-chan?'' Hinata's hand was placed on top of her sister's head, a pleading look residing in her eyes.

''Okay!'' A grin formed on Hanabi's face, ''As long as Nee-chan promises to come with mommy and me to to the park!''

''Sure!'' Hinata smiled, a relief overcoming her. ''Lets go finish unpacking first.'' She grabbed her little sister's hand, and went upstairs to finish their packing.

''But nee-chan, who is that boy?'' Hanabi asked, still curious.

''I don't even know myself...'' Hinata let out a sigh, wondering if she'd be able to encounter the blonde boy again. But, she knew there were better things to worry about than some boy she hasn't even met yet. Hinata was still anxious about her new school she'll be attending tomorrow.

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><p>''Minato, you can't keep working there.'' Concern resided on the redhead's face, ''What if something happens to you?''<p>

''I have no choice, if I quit then it'll cause us even more trouble.'' Minato's eyes gazed over at his son who was playing with his toy cars, ''Why don't you go to the park with Naruto? We'll continue this discussion later.'' Minato kissed his wife on the cheek.

''Please... you can't keep doing this!'' She pleaded, ''I don't want anything to happen to you.'' her eyes turned glossy, revealing that she was close to crying. Kushina couldn't stand seeing her husband work in a corrupt corporation, any day now their own family might be hunted down for the scams the corporation pulls to tear other businesses down.

Letting out a sigh, Minato kneeled down to his wife who was sitting on the couch. Grasping her hand, he gazed into her eyes. ''Kushina, I promise I won't let anything happen to us. Just give me some time, I'll figure out a way to leave them.'' his brows knitted together, his expression filled with promise.

Letting out a sigh, Kushina saw she had no choice but to believe in her husband. ''Alright...'' she forced a smile, and was pulled into an embrace by him.

''Thank you, I won't let you down!'' Minato pulled a smile as well, but in reality he wasn't sure he could keep his promise. Due to the organization he works at, they've already received several threats to be hunted down. He wasn't sure himself, how he got involved in this. Minato remembered being desperate to be able to take care of his family, and being sucked into corruption after that. He knew how worried it made her wife, whenever he left for work each day but he had no choice but to go against her wishes until he was able to somehow get a better job.

Standing up, Minato walked up to Naruto and picked him up, lifting him up in the air. ''Now, you better not give your mom any trouble. You hear me?''

Naruto glared at his dad, ''I'm always good!'' he squirmed around in his dad's grasp, ''Now let me go!''

Minato laughed before raising him higher up in the air, ''Don't tell me you're scared.'' he raised an eyebrow at his son.

''No, no...'' Goosebumps covered the boy, but he attempted to hide the fact that he was scared of heights. ''I'm... I'm not scared! I'm braver than you, daddy!''

''I'm just kidding.'' Minato chuckled before letting Naruto down, he kneeled down to the boy's height and looked him straight in the eye with a serious stare ''I'm serious though, I won't get you that new race car you want if I hear you've been misbehaving.''

''O-Okay...'' Naruto looked away, hiding the blush that appeared on his cheeks from embarrassment.

''That's my boy.'' Minato grinned and ruffled his hair before standing up. ''Guess it's time for me to get going.''

''Be safe, alright Minato?'' Kushina wore a sad smile, before leaning her head on his chest.

''Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to me.'' Minato hugged her close, then broke away from the hug ''Just know, I love you.'' he gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and smiled when he pulled away.

''I love you too...'' she meekly answered.

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><p>''Nee-chan! Nee-chan!'' Hanabi jumped up and down when they finally got to the park, her behavior wasn't too surprising since she was only 4 years old. ''Can we go play on the swings?'' Hanabi excitedly pointed to the swing sets when they walked inside the park.<p>

The park was larger than most parks Hinata's seen before, it had plenty of trees to hide under for shade, and it had a playground, along with swings, and an area that contained a few green picnic tables, along with a wide grassy side for just lying under the sun or playing a good game of soccer, baseball, etc.

''Sure, lets go!'' Hinata beamed and before she knew it, her sister excitedly grabbed her hand and dragged Hinata all the way to the swings.

''Be careful girls!'' Their mom warned with caution.

''We know!'' They simultaneously called back while running to the swings, and when they got there Hanabi instantly hopped on one of the swings. There wasn't many people in the park, so there wasn't any need to wrestle anyone for a spot on the swings.

''Push me high nee-chan!'' Hanabi grinned widely, her legs bouncing up and down.

''Alright, alright. Calm down.'' Hinata giggled, before walking behind Hanabi and pushing her with little force. Hanabi went up only a few feet off the ground, which caused Hanabi to grumble in annoyance.

''HIGHER!'' Hanabi demanded, fidgeting in the seat.

Sighing, Hinata said ''Alright... Just let me know when you get tired.'' she pushed Hanabi with more force, causing the swing to go up higher, but not too high so she wouldn't fall.

''Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!'' Hanabi cheered in excitement, but still tightly grasped the chains on the side of the swing she was on.

''You're too much little sis...'' Hinata smiled with a nervous laugh. Suddenly her attention was caught by another's voice.

''Mommy... how come you were crying and hugging dad before?'' Hinata recognized the boy to be the one she spotted earlier, she gazed through the gate to listen in on the conversation curiously.

''It's nothing to be concerned about Naruto, sweetie.'' His mom gave a painful smile, trying to hide the hurt behind it. She sat on the bench under a shady tree.

Naruto groaned, ''You never tell me anything...'' he scowled and crossed his arms.

''Once you're old enough to understand, I'll tell you.'' She signaled him to come towards her, and he listened. Kushina kissed his forehead, ''Now go have fun, I'll keep a close eye on you.''

''Yuck!'' Naruto backed away, and rubbed his forehead in disgust from the kiss. ''You and dad kiss a lot like that.'' He stuck his tongue out.

Kushina giggled at his remark, ''Soon you'll find a pretty girl to kiss like that all you want.'' she winked at him with a smile.

''Eww, no!'' Naruto shook his head in denial, ''Kissing is stupid.''

''You say that now...'' Kushina rolled her eyes, knowing his opinion will change once he matures when he's older. ''Now go play.''

Naruto giggled in excitement, ''I'm going on the swings!'' he dashed to the swings where the two other Hyuga girls were at. When he got there, he blinked when he noticed the girls and his gaze was directed at Hinata.

''Hey! You're that weird girl who was staring at me before!'' He pointed at Hinata, who quietly yelped from being startled. Her cheeks turned red from embarrassment, her legs felt like jello and began to shake.

''O-Oh u-um, I-I u-umm...'' Her lips quivered with anxiety, ''S-Sorry...''

''Nee-chan's speaking weird again!'' Hanabi teased from her swing, that was still swinging up in the air.

''What did you say? You kept talkin' all weird I couldn't understand, 'ttebayo.'' Naruto tilted his head, walking over to her.

Hinata gulped nervously, ''I-I'm... sorry.'' she managed to say.

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.'' He said scratching the back of his head, finally understanding her. Hinata shyly giggled at his response.

''Hey, what's so funny?'' Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

''O-Oh, um, sorry. I umm.. u-uh, just t-thought, your um.. r-reaction was kinda f-funny...'' She pressed her index fingers together nervously whilst looking down with a blush still on her face.

''Weird red stuff keeps going on your face, are you okay?'' He kneeled down a bit, and tried to look up into her eyes since her head hung down. Hinata's eyes widened and she quickly looked up.

''I-I'm fine... sorry..'' She nervously laughed again.

''Stop saying sorry so much!'' He crossed his arms with a small glare, ''You're actually really funny too, dattebayo.'' he grinned while putting arms behind his head.

''U-Umm.. t-thanks...'' She smiled, ''I was wondering... if.. umm... you wanted to be... friends?'' silence was heard after, and Hinata looked up to see Naruto on the swing beside Hanabi.

''Hmm... if only my dad was here 'ttebayo, he could push me high up.'' Naruto sighed in disappointment, and soon found himself being kicked from behind and fell off the swing.

''DON'T IGNORE NEE-CHAN!'' Hanabi yelled with a hardened glare.

''YOU BRAT, THAT HURT 'TTEBAYO!'' Naruto stood up, rubbing his sore behind from the kick. Then he blinked, and paused when he realized what she said ''What do you mean?''

''Hinata nee-chan was going to tell you something nice and you ignored her!'' Hanabi crossed her arms in disapproval at how idiotic the boy was.

''Is that the name of that weird bluehead, 'Hinata'?'' Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, completely oblivious to the situation.

''YES!'' Hanabi screeched, causing Naruto to flinch from the pain in his ears from it.

''Owww, okay, okay, where is she?'' Naruto looked around since she suddenly wasn't in the swings area anymore, he spotted her under a tree a bit farther off.

''Go apologize, stupid!'' Hanabi shoved him towards her direction.

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><p>Hinata picked petals off a pink flower she found, and sighed. ''I guess I'll never get over my shyness, but it seemed to get worst whenever I'm around him.''<p>

''You say that like it's never going to happen!'' Hinata gasped and her shot up to see Naruto looking down on her with a concerned stare.

''O-Oh, Naruto-kun...'' She looked back down at the flower that now had no more petals, ''S-Sorry, I was just ummm talking to myself.''

''I do that sometimes.'' He sat down next to her, ''Are you okay? Your annoying sister said you wanted to tell me something?'' Naruto blinked, looking at her.

''Oh i-it's nothing... j-just a silly question.'' She grabbed another pink flower and started picking the petals.

He scoffed, not believing her ''Then why you got all sad?!''

''S-Sorr-''

''NO! Don't say sorry!'' His innocent cerulean orbs formed into a glare, ''Just tell me, pretty please?'' his eyes softened.

His persistence was surprising, and even admiring in Hinata's opinion. _Maybe _he wasn't so bad after all. ''I wanted to ask if you wanted to be friends.'' heat rushed to her face as she looked to the side to avoid his gaze.

''Ohhhh!'' He laughed, rocking back and forth as he sat criss-cross beside her under the tree. ''You should have just said so! Of course I'll be your friend, 'ttebayo!'' Naruto grinned widely, ''Why don't we introduce ourselves?''

''Ummm.. okay.'' She laughed with a tint of pink residing on her cheeks, ''I'm Hinata Hyuga, nice to meet you.''

''I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the greatest guy you'll ever meet, dattebayo!'' He gave a thumbs up, showing off his signature grin. ''Hope we can be best friends.''

''I hope so too...'' Hinata nodded without hesitation.

Someone cleared their throat, which caused the two little kids to quickly look up at the redhead spying on them. ''I see where my future grandchildren are coming from.'' Kushina grinned deviously while leaning on the tree beside her.

''Mommy! Meet my new friend Hinata!'' Naruto ignored what his mom said, and excitedly stood up with Hinata.

''Hello miss Hinata.'' Kushina politely greeted her with a small handshake, ''I'm Kushina, Naruto's mom 'ttebane.'' She grinned widely, and Hinata immediately saw who Naruto got his hyperactive personality from.

Hinata blinked, mulling over words to say. ''N-Nice to meet you, Kushina-san.'' Hinata gave a small bow.

''You are sooooooooooo cute!'' Kushina pulled her into a suffocating hug while squealing in awe. Hinata's eye twitched at the tight embrace, but didn't mind it nevertheless.

''Mommmmmmmmmmmmmy!'' Naruto cried out, ''You're going hugging her too hard!''

''Sorry.'' Kushina broke the head with an apologetic smile, ''I tend to get carried away.''

Hinata backed away a few steps, blinking and shaking her head. ''No, it's alright!'' she smiled

''Hina-'' Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but paused when Hinata was yanked from the two Uzumakis.

''What did I tell you about being near strangers?'' Hinata's mom angrily muttered to her.

''But... these are my friends...'' Hinata frowned becoming frightened by her mother's sudden change in personality.

''I disapprove of you having these disgusting bumpkins as your 'friends'.'' Hanahime snapped at her daughter, causing Hinata to flinch from the coldness in her tone. They turned to leave, but Kushina's surprising words caused the older Hyuga woman to come to a stop.

''Are you still holding a grudge, Hanahime?'' The redhead raised an eyebrow, and Hanahime wore an angry scowl before facing the daredevil redhead who wore an amused smirk.

''You know nothing of me, Kushina Uzumaki. I don't suggest you speak as if you know me.'' Hanahime spat back.

''No need to have such a foul tone, I just don't understand why my family repulses you so much.'' Kushina casually replied, ''I have nothing against you, even if our families has had a lot of drama in the past involving each other.''

''It's not just you that's repulsive, it's your husband.'' Hanahime glared, ''Due to your husband's selfish actions, the Hyuga corporation has been shut down and we were forced to move to this wretched neighborhood.'' Kushina's eyes widened at the mention of her husband, since she wasn't aware of what he does whenever he leaves the house.

''So that's it...'' Kushina whispered to herself, confirming her thoughts. ''Tell me, what exactly did my husband do to your corporation?'' she asked.

Hanahime let out an irritated sigh, ''He one time, began working for us before all this had started. He was assumed to have been a quality worker but apparently he only worked for us so he can get us into bankrupt. I'm not entirely sure, but I've heard he's an undercover agent for an entirely different business that intends to corrupt any successful corporation they manage to get access to.'' she abruptly explained.

There was a moment of silence between them, Kushina completely stunned and her left hand clenching into a tight fist. Looking down, Kushina wore an apologetic expression. ''Please forgive me, for my husband's actions. I really didn't know anything about that at all.''

''I see...'' Hanahime wore a stern expression, crossing her arms across her chest. ''I guess I shouldn't had reacted the way I did, but I do suggest you keep your son safe. He might be in danger since your husband is, in fact a wanted man among many corporations.''

''I've been aware of us being hunted down, for quite some time.'' Kushina sighed, knowing there was only more trouble to come.

''Keep an eye out, but as I was saying... I have to leave.'' Hanahime looked around for her daughters, then her gaze was directed at a trio under the tree who was giggling at whatever they were talking about. The Hyuga mother's eye twitched.

''I assume you still don't approve of them being friends?'' Kushina wore a sad smile, knowing how hard it keeps getting for her son to make any friends.

''I will approve, as long as they only hang around each other at my house.'' Hanahime said, her tone becoming more gentle as she wore a small smile.

''Arigatou, I really appreciate it.'' Kushina grinned, ''Naruto! Say goodbye to your two friends!'' she called out, and she giggled when she heard him groan.

Naruto sighed, his azure orbs saddening as he looked at the two Hyuga girls. ''Bye Hinata.'' he hugged her, causing her to blush a bright red but he was too oblivious to realize. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Hanabi, ''You.''

''I have a name!'' Hanabi puffed her cheats, glaring at the blonde boy.

''Kay.'' He ignored her comment.

''Bye Naruto, I hope we can... play again sometime and hopefully meet at school tomorrow.'' Hinata shyly spoke, a pink blush rising on her cheeks as she fiddled with her fingers while looking down.

''I hope so.'' He grinned while rubbing the back of his head, ''You're a really cool friend.''

''T-Thank you... you umm.. are too.'' Hinata smiled.

''You guys are weird.'' Hanabi raised an eyebrow, looking at them with a weird face. ''Lets go nee-chan!'' she pulled Hinata arm and they ran to their mom.

''Hopefully, I can actually keep her as a friend...'' Naruto mentally hoped.

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><p>Later that day, night had finally hit the skies. Naruto had passed out into a deep sleep in his bed, Kushina kissed his forehead and covered him with his orange blanket before quietly shutting off the lights. Going downstairs, Kushina remained gazing out the window thinking about the news she heard about Minato. It was stunning, but not surprising nonetheless since she knew he was doing something dangerous. She decided, she'll confront him tonight and be more forward with him.<p>

''If he refuses to quit this stupid job, then I'll leav-'' She paused at the thought of divorcing him, it was too much to bare. She loved him dearly, she was IN love with him after all. The feelings she had for him never subsided ever since she met him during her elementary school years, and what about her son? Kushina had heard that divorces have an effect on the children too. But still, she felt that she had to find someway to make him get a better job. Or even better, she could work instead of him!

Kushina saw a figure outside the window, it was dark outside so the person was hard to recognize. Squinting, she decided to back away from the window and close the curtains. An uneasy feeling began tightening inside her stomach.

That person was not Minato Namikaze.

Her heart nearly stopped, it could be anyone. This person didn't seem too friendly either, with every step the person took Kushina felt like she was going to crumble away. Fear overcame her entire being, her palms becoming sweaty and her legs shaking with anxiety.

''Go away, go away, go away, go away...'' She prayed with every silent word spoken, clasping her hands together with her eyes closed. Her body leaned against her door, and she heard the person finally stepping on the last step and walking up to the door. A loud, hard bang was heard and she even felt it while she was on the door.

''Namikaze, you bastard. If you don't let me inside, you're going to regret it!'' A masculine voice threatened from behind the door. Kushina's heart dropped, she didn't know what to do!

What if this person came in and murdered Naruto and her? Many negative thoughts roamed through her mind. Why couldn't she just live her life peacefully, without all this fear of being attacked one day which was most likely today. Tears roamed down her face, she couldn't take it anymore. Biting down on her bottom lip, she tried to keep these damn tears from falling but it was hopeless. The door continued to be banged on, with many swears, threats, etc.

Kushina's body slid down the door, until her bottom hit the floor. She brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on top while shutting her eyes. ''I want this nightmare to hurry up and end.''

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><p>Hiashi let out a much needed sigh of regret, ''I would have never guessed <em>he <em>lived here.''

''I know, I encountered his wife in the park. She seemed not to acknowledged all of his corruption until now.'' Hanahime glanced at her husband.

''What are you going to do about him then?'' Hiashi raised an eyebrow skeptically.

''Lets wait, maybe someone else would do us a favor and take care of the job.'' She pointed out the window, to the sight of a strange figure outside the Uzumaki household.

''If that doesn't work out, then I have a better idea.'' Hiashi smirked, a devious idea coming to his corrupted mind.

''Do tell.'' Hanahime smirked as well.

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><p>''Mommy...'' Kushina's head shot up, to see Naruto rubbing his eyes and standing at the top of the staircase in front of her. ''Why's someone banging on the door?'' he asked drowsily as he walked down the stairs and stood in front of her.<p>

''Sweetie, come here...'' She held out her arms, and Naruto yawned before walking into her embrace. Kushina wrapped her arms tightly around him, stroking his hair. ''Kami forbid if anything was to happen to me, just know I love you with all my heart 'ttebane.'' she sniffled.

Naruto was puzzled at her sudden remark, ''Are you going away?''

''No, just forget I said anything.'' She released her embrace on him, and just smiled to hide the fear she had inside. Naruto listened intently, remaining silent there in his footsie pajamas. Kushina listened intently too, and noticed the banging had stopped and she let out a sigh of relief.

_CRASH!_

Her heart dropped as the window next to her broke, and there was glass shards all over the floor. She quickly stood up and rushed to defend Naruto by shoving him behind her.

''Mommy... I'm scared 'ttebayo.'' He tightly grasped the hems of green dress.

Kushina remained silently, trying to keep a strong face on. Anger and fear boiled up inside of her as she saw a figure jump threw the window. It was a man with dark brown hair, he wore a scowl on his face. In his hand, Kushina's eyes widened when she saw it held a gun.

''So, you're Namikaze's wife I assume.'' He stepped closer to her, and Kushina immediately shoved Naruto towards the staircase and muttered for him to go quickly. Naruto hesitated, but quickly followed his mom's orders.

''No need to worry, I won't go after the kid today.'' He reassured, although it wasn't a relaxing reassurance since that means Naruto will be a target in the future. Kushina held a straight face, to hide any fear that she had to try and keep herself calm. The man raised his arm that held the gun, ''I've gotten tired of your husband's shit so I'll give him a warning by first, killing you.'' his finger was ready to press down on the trigger, when Kushina tackled him to the floor, and kept a tight grip on his arms.

She clenched her jaw, and shot him a deadly glare. Fortunately, Kushina was always known for her inhuman strength and managed tighten her grip on his arm to a point where he began wincing from the pain. She released her grip on his arm without the gun, and clenched her fist tightly before aiming for his face. Repeatedly punching, and punching, and punching until he released his grip and the gun collapsed on the floor. He remained unconscious, his face bruised, and bleeding from her beating. Tears began streaming down her face, she grabbed the gun and held it in her hand. She heard the door open, and she immediately aimed it at whoever entered but she lowered her arm when she saw who it was.

''M-Minato...'' She sobbed, dropping the gun and stood up from where she stand.

''What happened here?'' He remained stunned, his eyes catching the man on the floor then soon recognizing who it was.

''This...'' She said through sniffled, but inhaled and exhaled before gaining her posture. ''This is all because of you..'' She clenched her fists at each side.

''Are you hurt? What did he do?!'' Minato walked over to her in concerned, and Kushina just boiled up with even more anger and soon launched a fist across his face that knocked him on the floor.

''WHO CARES ABOUT ME? WHAT IF HE DID SOMETHING TO OUR SON?!'' Kushina spat at him, huffing angrily. Her entire face turned red from her immense anger.

''Kushi-''

''NO, SHUT UP!'' She cut him off, ''If we're going to be together, I don't want to live each day in fear of people you've screwed with.'' Kushina started biting on her bottom lip again, attempting to hold in the new tears that wanted to fall down her already tear stained cheeks. Her anger subsided, and was replaced with sadness, and fear of what the future held for them.

Minato's heart tightened when he saw her crying, he immediately went to comfort her regardless of previously being punched in the face. He held her hand, and brought it to his lips before gently kissing it and looking straight into her eyes. ''I'm sorry, I know a lot has been going on lately...'' he said, but knew words weren't good enough. ''I'm not able to quit yet, but I will be able to stay home with you more often''

Kushina glared at him, ''What's so difficult about being able to quit? You're not that much of a little pansy, are you?''

He nervously laughed, ''My boss isn't easy to reason with, trust me.'' his gaze was directed at the conscious man on the floor again, ''Or, if push comes to shove, you can always beat him up for me.'' Minato joked.

Kushina growled, ''You don't know how freaking horrified I was, 'ttebane.''

''You can tell me all about it, upstairs.'' Minato said before kissing her cheek, and then they both walked upstairs with their hands intertwined.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, I admit it might not make too much sense. And no, Minato is not in the Akatsuki. lol. It'll all be explained in the next chapter. I also spent like 3-5 days writing this chapter. :[

It was enjoyable though.

There will be more NaruHina in the next chapter, not literally the romance but... you get the point.


	2. Truly Friends or Not?

**A/N: **And... here's chapter 2. ._. I don't really have much to say, except review but then I'll sound desperate. Lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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><p>''Beautiful.'' Hanahime smiled at her work, as she backed away from her daughter. Hinata was getting prepared for her first day of her new school, she wore a frown since she was nervous. Her mom had her dressed in a white short sleeved polo shirt, a knee length blue pleated skirt, white ankle length socks, and black maryjanes. Her midnight blue hair was short as usual, but had a white bow clipped to the side. Her mom turned her figure so she was facing the long mirror in her room to see her reflection.<p>

''Don't be so sad Hinata, your first day will be fine.'' Hanahime said, upon noticing how depressed her daughter looked. ''I'm sure you'll make lots of friends.''

''I doubt that...'' Hinata mumbled, her lips quivered as she chewed on her bottom lip. She wiped the incoming tears from her eyes with her bare arm.

''You will, believe me.'' Her hands rested on Hinata's shoulders from behind, ''But promise me one thing.'' the older Hyuga's eyebrows rose with her serious tone.

''What?'' Hinata blinked, glancing at her mother through the mirror.

''Stay away from that Uzumaki boy.'' Hanahime hissed with malice when she whispered in Hinata's ear. The younger Hyuga stood silent, not wanting to keep such a hateful promise.

Hanahime stood up, and folded her arms across her chest with a scowl on her pale skinned face. ''Hinata!'' Her voice was raised.

''Y-Yes mother...'' The tone startled the bluehaired girl into stuttering, she let out an internal sigh and shut her eyes tightly. '_I missed when Mother was more gentle, she has become so... so much more cruel than she used to be.' _

Her mother quickly formed a smile, ''Good.'' she grabbed Hinata's hand, ''Now, let's go.''

Hinata nodded before opening her eyes to look at her mother, but inside she wanted to cry her eyes out right now. She made a new friend, and now she couldn't even talk to him at school. _'I'm... I'm sorry Naruto-kun.' _

* * *

><p>''Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!'' The little energetic blonde clasped his hands together, and pleaded with begging eyes.<p>

''No!'' Kushina glared down at the boy, ''It's too early to have any ice cream anyway, plus you're wearing a brand new uniform! You'll get it dirty.''

''Dad...?'' Naruto looked towards his dad who sat at the kitchen table for sympathy, but Minato merely looked away whistling and not wanting to get scolded by his wife.

Naruto sighed, knowing there was no way to win against his mom alone. His head shot up, to look at her mom like a helpless puppy. His mom wore a scowl, not approving of his behavior. ''Wait, I have an idea!'' a grin had spread on his lips. He took off his white polo shirt, and navy blue shorts and was left shirtless, and in his underwear, shoes, and socks.

Minato peeked from the corner of his eye as he ate his cereal, he couldn't help but laugh since he knew this 'brilliant idea' his son had wasn't going to end well.

''If I don't have these clothes on, then I won't get dirty. Right?'' Naruto held his grin until he felt a dark aura emitting from his mother, not literally a dark aura but he could feel her anger steaming right out of her.

A growl was heard before she spoke, ''Naruto Uzumaki, if you don't put those clothes back on right now... you'll be in school with bruises, 'ttebane!'' Kushina cracked her knuckles, an intense glare directed at her terrified sun.

''Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.'' He winced from getting pulled by the ear from his angered mom, ''Okay, okay, sorry. I'll put them on!'' Naruto quickly grabbed his clothes and put them back on before he his mom could beat him to a pulp.

''Good boy.'' Kushina kissed his cheek with a gentle smile, it was astonishing how her mood changed so fast. ''Now, be on your best behavior today in school, alright?'' Kushina kneeled down, so she was eye-to-eye with Naruto.

Like usual, Naruto wiped off the kiss from his mom since it still grossed him out because he believed his mom had 'cooties'. He even told his dad one time, and he broke out laughing.

''I have a new friend, so I bet I'll have lots of fun today, 'ttebayo!'' Naruto said cheerfully, before hugging his mom.

''New friend?'' Minato raised an eyebrow.

''Yeah! Her name is Hinata, she's really nice and we met at the park yesterday.'' Minato remained silent with the news, and so did the Kushina. The whole kitchen was silent until Naruto spoke up.

''What's wrong, you guys got all quiet.'' Naruto blinked, and broke from the hug before looking at both of them.

''...Kushina.'' Minato said, his tone turned stiff.

''Yes, I know...'' She let out a sigh, and stood up. ''It's time for school, so you two should get going.'' Kushina dusted off her son's clothes, since he unfortunately had them on the floor earlier.

''Go get your backpack, while I talk with your mother.'' Minato said, before standing up from the table.

''Alright!'' Naruto wore his grin, and ran upstairs to his room.

''Damn it.'' Kushina muttered, knowing she was about to get scolded.

''How come you didn't tell me about meeting up with them yesterday?'' Minato's tone grew more serious since they were alone.

Turning, and facing him, memories of the conversation they had last night flew through her mind. They both made a promise to be nothing but honest with each other from now on, usually that's what two couples promise when they first get married but things hadn't gone completely perfect with Kushina's marriage throughout the years. She also hadn't expect her son's friendship with the Hyuga girl, to cause skepticism of whether or not it'll cause any future issues.

''I didn't think it was important... Sorry...'' Kushina apologized meekly, frowning with her head hung down.

''No need to apologize.'' He brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face and brought her chin up so they looked directly at each other, ''But you know this means we'll have to keep a closer eye on Naruto though, right?'' Minato's tone turned more gentle, regardless he could never stand to be mad at her for anything.

''I know, I just want him to be happy though. Why make him miserable because a few stupid adults have disagreements?'' She sighed and leaned her head on her lover's chest. ''I don't want him to have a childhood like mine. It was hell, until I met one person who changed my life...''

''I wonder who that was.'' He smiled, and leaned down to kiss her.

''Yeah, I wonder.'' She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and kissed him back.

''Ewww.'' Naruto scrunched up his face in disgust when he walked in on the romantic scene between his parents, ''There's a kid around here dattebayo.''

Kushina blushed and pushed Minato away, ''I think it's time for you two to leave.'' she awkwardly laughed.

Minato sighed and kissed her on the forehead, ''I love you.''

''Love you too, Mina-kun.'' She smiled, and giggled when she saw him blushed from the nickname.

''Come on! Hurry, and stop doing gross mushy stuff!'' Naruto called out from in front of the door, he already had his backpack, and lunchbox so he was ready to go.

''R-Right...'' He scurried over to his impatient son, and Kushina gave them a friendly wave goodbye.

''Have fun!''

* * *

><p>Hinata and her mother had drove to the school, then walked inside and went inside the main office to make sure she was properly registered as a student and has an official class. As her mom was talking to one of the office people, Hinata sat on the bench as her legs swung back and forth. Indeed, she was nervous. Her eyes scanned around the office, it felt tense and made her want to leave.<p>

''Dad, hurry up! I'm already late!'' The loud voice was instantly recognizable to Hinata's ears, she turned her head and looked in the doorway to see Naruto with his dad in the hallway. Hinata let out a small gasp, and hoped her mom was finished talking already.

''Alright, your class is... 1-5.'' Hanahime said, grabbing her daughter's hand and hauling her back into the hallway. Relief came over Hinata, since she didn't have to face him yet. At least if she was at school without her mom, she would never find out if she was talking to Naruto or not.

''Now, if you even dare interact with that boy during school... You will surely be punished.'' Hanahime threatened as she kneeled down in front of her daughter, the icy glare her mother gave was frightening. ''Don't think you can be slick and talk to him while I'm gone, because I do have some people here who will be keeping a close eye on you.''

Apparently plan A went down the drain for Hinata, but she wondered who were these mysterious spies. ''Yes, Mother...'' Hinata blinked, not really feeling like smiling or feeling anything cheerful.

''Good, glad you understand. Have a good day.'' She kissed Hinata's forehead, and left her in front of her class.

Sighing, Hinata knew well that this was going to be a horrible day.

Turning the knob and opening the door, she walked inside and stole a glance at the room of kids. Blinking, she saw all kinds of different kids. Then she saw her supposedly new teacher, that happened to be a female. She had long, curly black hair, and red colored eyes that sort of looked like contacts.

''You must be Hinata Hyuga.'' The teacher spoke in a kind tone when she walked over to the Hyuga, ''I'm Ms. Kurenai, I'll be your new first grade teacher for this whole year.'' Kurenai smiled, and grabbed her hand to bring her to the front of the class.

''Everyone, meet Hinata our new classmate. I hope you all welcome her with open arms.'' Kurenai announced, and everyone clapped and welcomed her with many loud, but kind gestures.

''Sorry I'm late, my dad got stuck in traffic.'' Naruto said as he walked into the class room that soon had everyone staring directly at him, he then stopped when he saw Hinata. ''Hinata! Awesome, we're in the same class.'' Naruto ran over to her.

''Booooooo! Be quiet Naruto, or you'll scare her away!'' A brown haired boy yelled out.

''SHUT UP KIBA!'' Naruto yelled back, ''She's my friend, 'ttebayo.'' he stuck his tongue out, and then turned to look back at the Hyuga ''Right? Tell em'!''

Hinata merely looked at him, silent for a moment. The threat her mother gave her was haunting her, but something was also telling her that listening to her mom was the stupidest idea ever.

''Yeah!'' Hinata smiled, ''I-I umm.. met Naruto-kun yesterday in the park. Then we became friends.''

Everyone gasped at her answer, and Kiba sat back in his seat and grumbled in annoyance that Naruto beat him in an argument.

''Alright, that's sweet and everything but we have to get back to our lesson!'' Kurenai stated, ''Now, Naruto and Hinata.. you two can sit in that table in the back with Sasuke and Sakura.''

''Y-Yes, Ms. Kurenai.'' Hinata quickly rushed to the table she was assigned to.

''I'm not sitting next to that Sasuke, dattebayo.'' Naruto immaturely crossed his arms, and puffed his cheeks.

''We've had this talk before, now don't give me any trouble today or I'll have to call Kushina up here again to have a talk with her.'' Kurenai put her hands on her hips, and narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

Naruto cringed at the thought of her mom finding out he was in trouble again, ''No, no, no, mom will kill me if you do that!'' he pleaded while on his knees.

''Then go sit where I told you.''

''Fine...'' He groaned, and walked over to the table in defeat. Only good thing was that Hinata was there at the table, he never really seemed to get along with Sasuke, and Sakura always yelled at him.

''I really suggest you keep away from this idiot.'' Sakura whispered to Hinata, who sat beside her. ''He's a super annoying troublemaker.''

Hinata blinked a few times, not really understanding what was so annoying about him. Sure, he's stubborn, but Hinata opinion he's open very kind once you actually get to know him. ''He's really nice though!'' the Hyuga replied.

''If you wanna be friends with me, then you have to stop talking to him!'' Sakura narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms.

Hinata merely stood quiet after the pinkette said that, not wanting to get into an argument with a girl she barely even knew. '

'Hey Hinata!'' Naruto startled her, and she looked up at him from across the desk.

''Wanna come over and play at my house?'' He wore a cheery smile, that made it hard for Hinata to even refuse.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks, ''S-Sure.''

''Awesome! My dad will pick us up after school, okay?'' Hinata nodded, but she also felt uneasy since her mother would most likely get mad at her if Hinata went over to their house.

''Ahem, okay! I would like someone to answer this problem!'' Kurenai announced, with a simple math problem on the chalkboard. ''What is 4 plus 6?''

The raven haired Uchiha boy quietly raised his hand before he was called on, ''It's 10.''

''Good job Sasuke, that's correct.'' Sasuke smiled upon being praised.

''Smartypants.'' Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke stuck his tongue out at the Uzumaki, ''Loser.''

Naruto gritted his teeth at the comment, his glare shooting daggers at the Uchiha. ''I'll show you.''

''Is 10 less than, greater to, or equal to 5?'' Kurenai asked.

Naruto raised his hand, but then Hinata raised her hand as well and was called on. ''It's greater than 5.''

''Correct!'' Kurenai praised.

Naruto merely growled in the background, he knew he wasn't good at math but still wanted to beat Sasuke in something for once.

''Sorry...'' Hinata apologized once she saw how mad he was.

''It's al-''

''No need to say sorry to this loser.'' Sasuke let out a sigh after interrupting whatever Naruto was about to say.

''Told you he's a troublemaker!'' Sakura shook her head in disapproval.

''Would you guys leave him alone?!'' Hinata glared at the both of them, which was very out of character for her. It silenced them immediately, since they assumed she was the shy type of girl. ''Stop making fun of him, he's a nice friend!''

Naruto remained silent too, pretty surprised himself that someone defended him. He blinked stupidly, looking at her in amazement. _''Hinata...'' _

* * *

><p>After what happened during class, Naruto felt like Hinata was truly one of his best friends. Even if they've only known each other for a short time. They were playing around together during recess, outside in the playground. An icy gaze had their eyes fixed on the two, very displeased by the sight.<p>

''Sasuke's a jerk sometimes, but we're still friends.'' Naruto gave a small laugh, ''He's kind of cool sometimes.''

''W-What about Sakura?'' Hinata asked curiously, they were currently sitting side by side on a bench in the playground.

''...'' Naruto stood silent at the mention of Sakura, not knowing how to answer it. His eyes caught an ice cream cart outside the gate, kids already started gathering to buy a cone.

''Naruto-kun?'' His silence began to concern the Hyuga, she raised an eyebrow as she looked at him.

''How about I get us Ice Cream?'' He grinned, quickly changing the subject.

''Huh?'' She noticed the cart a few feet away from them.

''My daddy gave me five dollars, so I can get you a cone if you want...'' His eyes looked away, hiding his blush.

''N-No, no, please don't waste your money on me!'' She shook her head, a bit flustered at the kind gesture.

''Chocolate, vanilla or that pink one.'' Naruto completely ignored what Hinata said.

Sighing, she just decided to give an answer. ''Chocolate.'' Hinata smiled sweetly at the Uzumaki.

''Awesome, 'ttebayo! I'll be getting chocolate too!'' He grinned again then hopped off the bench to fulfill her order, although the line of kids was a bit long so it was going to take a while. Hinata laughed when she heard Naruto groan when he found out he wasn't the only one who wanted ice cream.

''So, Hinata-sama. I see you're disobeying your mother's orders.'' the voice was cold, the same icy gaze from the one whom had been watching her earlier. Hinata's body froze, she recognized that stern, cold tone that could only belong to one person.

Biting down on her bottom lip anxiously, she couldn't bring herself to turn her head around to look at him. ''N-Neji nii-san...'' she meekly said.

''Didn't Hanahime-sama specifically order you to stay away from that boy?'' His face wore a scowl, arms folded across his chest.

''Y-Yes... she.. she did...'' Hinata frowned, her eyes sadly looking down.

''WHY, are you still talking to him then?'' He raised an eyebrow as his voice was raised. Hinata didn't answer, and merely stood up to leave but unfortunately her cousin grabbed her by the wrist and held her back. Despite his young age, his grip was tight. The male Hyuga was known to take martial arts classes after school.

''L-Let go of me, please... nii-san.'' Her voice cracked with the plead, not many or not any one at all had noticed the two since they were in an area in the back of the playground behind the large slide.

''Hanahime-sama told me to keep an eye on you, to make sure you wouldn't act disobey her wishes.'' Neji kept a tight grip on Hinata's wrist, refusing to let go. ''I see you're more disobedient than I thought.'' he narrowed his eyes at her.

''I-I'm sorry...'' Tears swelled up in her eyes, she couldn't take this constant lack of freedom her parents gave her. Neji released his grip on her, and remained with a stoic expression. Hinata rubbed her wrist, seeing how red it was after being released.

''Come with me, I don't want you out of my sight while you're at school.'' Neji said, Hinata merely nodded while wiping the tears off her face. ''I can't believe someone like you is in the Hyuga family.'' he scoffed and shook his head in disapproval as they walked away from the playground.

About two minutes after they walked after, Naruto ran towards the bench where he thought Hinata was with an excited smile on his face. In his hands he had two cones with chocolate flavored ice cream. Noticing Hinata was gone, Naruto looked around everywhere but she was still nowhere in sight?

''Where the heck did she go?'' Suddenly he found himself face first on the floor, and fell right into the fallen ice cream on the floor, due to someone pushing him from behind.

''Hahaha, loser.'' The blonde heard someone say. Naruto gritted his teeth, and punched a fist into the ground. Standing up, he looked down at his uniform to see his entire outfit was covered in chocolate.

''Mom's going to kill me, 'ttebayo...'' he muttered. Looking around, he saw the entire playground was empty. Recess was over! But, he didn't care. He knew going into class like this would be humiliating. Small sniffles came from the boy, he tried his hardest not to cry but failed miserably. Wiping his eyes with his chocolate covered arm, tears still continued to travel down his cheeks as he walked back inside.

''Wait!'' Someone called out to him, Naruto turned and saw a redheaded boy coming towards him.

''What is it?'' Naruto wasn't sure whether or not he could trust this kid, so he narrowed his eyes in the redhead's direction.

''Umm...'' The redhead kneeled down and dug inside his backpack, then pulled out a towel and a sweater. He stood up and gave the things to Naruto ''I saw what happened earlier...''

''What's this stuff for?'' Naruto looked at the boy questionably, skeptical about why he was being so nice when they never even met.

''To clean off that ice cream, and umm... cover the chocolate when you go back inside.'' The redhead gave a timid, as if afraid that Naruto might chomp him down for lunch.

''Thanks...'' Naruto gave a small smile, and gratefully took the towel from the boy and attempted to clean off the sticky substance, then he took the larger, navy blue hoodie sweater and put it in. He swung on the hoodie, since he claimed it made him look 'cool'.

''Kids sometimes bully me too... so I know how you feel.'' The redhead looked down shyly, with a frown. His head shot up with widened eyes when he felt Naruto wrap his hand around his shoulder.

''What's your name?'' Naruto asked with a grin.

''Gaara...'' The redhead smiled.

''Heh, cool name. I'm Naruto!''

''Weird name.'' Gaara let out a small laugh.

''You're one to talk!'' Naruto wore a scowl, and crossed his arms.

''You're named after Ramen though.'' The redhead pointed out.

''And your name means something like 'Love yourself' or something like that, I don't know 'ttebayo.'' Naruto pointed out lamely.

''My mother named me it, I can't control those kind of things.'' Gaara laughed again.

''My parents got my name from a book...'' Naruto mumbled in annoyance.

''What?'' Gaara raised an eyebrow at the blonde, not quite hearing him.

''Nothing, nothing 'ttebayo.'' Naruto rolled his eyes and snickered, ''We need to go back inside, or we'll be in super big trouble.''

* * *

><p>Naruto and Gaara were in different classes, so they unfortunately went separate ways once they got back inside. Naruto kept on the sweater since Gaara said he could keep it, and it covered most of his uniform so he hopefully wouldn't look too horrible. Naruto hoped his mom would understand what happened once he explained everything to her.<p>

Instead of going back to his regular classroom, Naruto went straight to Iruka's office. Usually, whenever he didn't feel like staying in class, he'd go to Iruka's office to cool down.

_Knock, Knock_

Iruka opened the door, and looked down at the frowning blonde. ''Naruto?''

''Is it okay if I... stay with you until school finishes?'' His voice cracked, showing a sigh that he was near crying.

''Sure, go inside while I call your teacher so she knows you're here.'' Iruka smiled and allowed him inside, his office wasn't too big since it was merely a room with one desk that had a computer on it. Naruto usually sat on the leather brown couch that was on the opposite side of the desk.

''Thanks!'' Naruto's mood brightened up as he scurried inside before Iruka closed the door. Naruto plopped himself on the sofa while Iruka called Kurenai.

Laying down on the sofa, Naruto let out a sigh and tuned out the conversation Irukia and Kurenai were having. In about 2 minutes, Iruka hung up and his gaze was fixed on the blonde as he sat in his chair. ''So, there's a new girl ?'' he suddenly asked to break the silence.

''Yeah...'' was all Naruto replied with and he stared blankly at the ceiling with his arms behind his head.

''What's her name?'' Iruka asked again, not liking the tension that filled the office.

''Hinata... Hyuga.'' Naruto simply replied again, squinting his cerulean orbs.

''Are you two friends?''

When that question was asked, there was a silent paused between the two before Naruto finally spoke again. ''I don't know.''

* * *

><p>THE END of chapter 2. xP (FINALLY finished, I was working on this for like 3 days.)<p>

A/N: Give me a comment like ''Gaara and Sasuke are out of character'' and I'll slap you okay. Ya'll know how those adorable little shits used to act when they were small. Gaara was all smiley smiley, and I believe he also had a shy side. Sasuke was all smiley, smiley, but I still want him to be a little shit if he's friends with Naruto.

Also, I love Neji and all but I need him to act like a bitch since it's part of the story. ._. Maybe he'll change later on, or maybe he won't. Hehehe, only the future will tell.

Anyway review pretty please? Then maybe I'll update. :[

Lol, but seriously. Reviews motivate me.

P.S. If you do not like the side MinaKushi then that's tough luck, there won't be any romantic NaruHina until they get older. Unless you want sick, child porno of two 6 year olds having make out sessions. Then I'm sorry Bob, I'm the wrong girl to go to. Basically, this is development towards their relationship. It'll all be worth it soon enough, just wait.


	3. Need for Protection

A/N: Wow lmao, I haven't updated any of my stories for a while. Although, I'm kinda sad... some of you know that naruto is ending in 3 weeks. -sigh- But, it doesn't hurt to still write fanfiction right?

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

* * *

><p>School was finally over for the day, and all the kids rushed out of the building to meet with their parents. Naruto's dad stood waiting outside for his son, leaning against his navy blue SUV. His eyes gazed upon all the smiles on the kids faces as they left with their parents, and it made him think about what Kushina told him earlier.<p>

_''How do you think Naruto would feel if either of us died, and weren't there by his side everyday?'' Kushina bluntly explained to him, and Minato could clearly see tears were close to falling from her eyes._

Minato loved both his wife and his son dearly, and he couldn't bare the thought of abandoning both of them. He couldn't bare the thought of dying too early and leaving them behind to fend for themselves, that's something he would never want to do.

He noticed Naruto finally walking out the building, a smile formed on the older blonde's face until he saw the depressed look on his son's face. ''Naruto!'' He called out to catch the boy's attention. The boy looked up and excitedly ran to his dad, Minato opened his arms and pulled him into a hug.

''Daddy...'' A sad smile formed on Naruto's face, and then Minato lifted the small boy up in his arms. ''You rarely ever come to pick me up.''

''Well I thought maybe we could have a guy's night out today and have some fun, what do you say?'' Minato smiled, even though he could still hear the sadness in Naruto's tone.

Due to Minato being busy, he rarely had any time to spend quality time with Naruto so he assumed this time would the perfect chance to do that. A grin formed on the boy's face, ''YES!'' Naruto cheered.

Minato was relieved he didn't see that depressed look on his son's face anymore, he knew something happened to him at school but it's best to just let him be happy before having to ask him about anything involving school. Putting his son back down on the ground, he took out his car keys and spun them around on his finger in an attempt to look cool. ''Lets go the-'' the keys smacked him the face by accident, causing him to wince. ''Ouch...''

''You're so lame dad, 'ttebayo...'' Naruto chuckled at his dad's silliness.

Minato let out a disappointed sigh, ''Get in the car.'' he said with an awkward laugh before opening the car door.

Naruto nodded before hopping in, then Minato snapped on his son's seatbelt before shutting the car door and getting into the driver seat.

When his dad was starting the car, Naruto's eyes peered out the window and his attention got caught by two familiar kids from school.

Hinata was walking beside Neji with her head down, and it looked like they were heading home. Naruto felt a little bad seeing how sad Hinata looked and wondered if Neji was the cause of her feeling like that.

''HI HINATA!'' Naruto yelled to her, which caught her attention since he has one of the loudest voices anyone could ever hear.

A smile appeared on her face, as she gave a meek wave. Relief filled her heart, because he wasn't angry with her. Neji grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Naruto's line of sight.

Naruto and Hinata simultaneously sighed, and looked forward.

''Is that one of your friends?'' Minato asked curiously, since he observed the little scene between the two.

''Yeah!'' Naruto grinned, ''Her name is Hinata, she's really nice and doesn't treat me the way everyone else does! Is it weird that I think she's kinda cute too.'' he tilted his head.

Minato couldn't help but laugh as he was driving, ''When you think a girl's cute, it can sometimes mean you like-like them.'' he explained it in a way his son might understand at his age.

Naruto blinked in confusion, ''The way you... like-like mommy?''

Minato's cheeks turned pink from embarrassment, this kid was so young and asking these sort of questions. ''I... well, uhhh... I'll tell you when you're older.''

''Okay! So where are we going?'' Naruto asked curiously with a large grin on his face.

''It's a secret.'' Minato said in a shushed voice.

''Dadddddddddddddd!'' Naruto pouted and whined.

* * *

><p>Kushina was in her kitchen preparing dinner for when the two blondes returned, she hummed happily to herself.<p>

''I hope Minato and Naruto are enjoying themselves.'' Kushina thought to herself with a smile, Minato of course told her that they were going to have some fun together.

The redhead heard a knock on the door, with a blink she turned off the stove and walked to her front door. When she opened it, there wasn't anyone there. She looked around and didn't see anything, or any sign of anyone.

''Hello...?'' she called out in confusion, and soon she felt a pain behind her before she blacked out, and collapsed on the ground in front of the house.

Two figures in black tied up her body, and one of them tossed her over their shoulder and walked back to a black van. They tossed her unconscious body into the back seat, and drove off with her.

Little did they know that a small Hyuga girl observed their actions from behind the fence.

* * *

><p>Naruto ran excitedly into the zoo while he was licking his ice cream, his dad bought him a new, bright orange shirt with a red fox on the front. ''I can't wait to see all the cool animals, dattebayo!''<p>

''Naruto don't run too fast, you might bump into someone!'' Minato warned trying to catch up with his son.

''You're just mad that I'm faster than you da-'' Naruto found himself on the ground after bumping into something and dropping his ice cream on the floor, ''Owww...'' he rubbed his head as he winced, when he looked up he caught eye contact with a raven haired Uchiha.

''...You...'' He glared at Sasuke. The boy who always made him look bad in school, the boy who always made fun of him for not being as smart as him.

''Baka Naruto, watch where you're going.'' Sasuke huffed rudely.

''S-Shut up!'' Naruto growled before shoving Sasuke back, then grabbing his shirt, ''You always act like you're better than me.''

''It's true since you're a loser.'' Sasuke smirked, even though he was in a vulnerable position. He shoved Naruto back, crossing his arms. ''Don't touch me, I don't wanna become an idiot like you.''

''You jerk...'' Naruto's anger boiled the more the Uchiha taunted him, but he tried not to cause a huge fight since his mom and dad would be disappointed in him.

''Naruto!'' Minato finally caught up with him, ''Are you alright?''

''...Daddy...'' He ran towards his dad and gave him a hug, ''I don't wanna stay here anymore.''

''But we just got here.'' Minato picked up Naruto, and looked at him confused. ''What happened?''

''He's just a wimp, you should take him home.'' Sasuke commented with his arms crossed.

''Don't talk about my son like that, especially in front of me.'' Minato snapped defensively at the little boy, ''I'm sure your parents taught you better than that.''

''Hmpf, that's none of your business.'' Sasuke said annoyingly.

''Sasuke.'' The boy's body froze at the call of his name, and he turned to see his older brother Itachi. ''What did I tell you about running off like that?'' Itachi held a disapproved expression on his face, grabbing Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke remained silent, slightly embarrassed. ''S-Sorry... big brother.'' a blush appeared on his cheeks, as he frowned.

''Forgive me for my brother's actions.'' Itachi bowed in an apologetic manner towards Minato, ''He's been acting very rebellious lately.''

''It's... no problem, but I think he's been causing a lot of conflict between my son and him.'' Minato explained, rather surprised that the boy's brother was much more polite, compared to him.

''I'll make sure to talk to him when we get home.'' He glanced down at his little brother, who was looking away from them in an attempt to hide his guilt. ''Goodbye.'' Itachi said with a gentle smile before walking off with Sasuke.

Minato let out a sigh, ''You still wanna go home, Naruto?''

''...Yes please.'' Naruto frowned, hiding his face in his dad's shoulder.

''Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?'' Minato asked, gently rubbing his back as they walked through the zoo. ''I can get you some cotton candy.''

''Maybe...'' Naruto considered it, since he had a weakness for sweets. ''Could... I get a piggyback ride too?'' he lifted his head, and looked up at his dad with pleading puppy dog eyes.

''Of course.'' Minato put Naruto back down on the floor, then he knelt down enough so Naruto could climb on his shoulders.

''Woah, It looks so cool up here! Dattebayo.'' Naruto kept his hands on his dad's head, and Minato carefully held onto his son's legs so he wouldn't fall off.

They also stopped so Naruto could get some cotton candy. He munched on it, until they stopped at the area where they had giraffes.

One of the Giraffe's stretched their long necks towards Naruto so he could pet them, but instead licked his head and stole his cotton candy.

''Oh wow... that was so cool... and gross, 'ttebayo.'' Naruto rubbed the giraffe saliva off his head.

Minato couldn't help but laugh, ''I guess it really liked you... and your cotton candy.''

''U-Umm... excuse me.'' a meek voice spoke behind them.

Both of them turned to see Hinata, standing there.

''M-Mr. Naruto's Dad, could I please tell you something.'' She asked, shyly looking up at Minato.

''Sure, what's wrong?'' Minato blinked in confusion, but acknowledged that this was one of Naruto's friends.

Naruto casually hopped off his dad's back, ''Hi Hinata!'' he grinned

Hinata walked up to Naruto and gave him a hug, ''I know it's gonna be hard for you now, but once I'm old enough... I'll always be there by your side.'' she whispered.

She then grabbed Minato's sleeve and pulled him to a corner where Naruto couldn't see them.

''...Um..'' Naruto scratched his head in confusion and continuing looking at the giraffes.

''Mr. Naruto's Dad...-'' Hinata started

''Just call me Minato...'' He said with a nervous smile.

''Minato-san, I saw that red haired lady get taken away in a truck.'' Hinata told him with a frown.

''Kushina...?'' His eyes widened.

Hinata nodded, ''I know I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but my parents don't like you two at all. I don't know why, but my mom had these guys come and take her away.''

Minato remained silent, he believed everything she was telling him since he knew well the reason why Hinata's parents didn't like them.

''Do you know where they took her?'' He asked, trying to resist the anger inside of him from coming out.

''They took her to Konoha's Night Club.'' Hinata informed him. ''It's best if you go during the day time, when the club isn't active.''

It took a minute for Minato to realize that someone like Hinata was a bit too young to be knowing this type of information. ''If you don't mind me asking, how do you know all of this?'' His eyes narrowed at the girl in suspicion, because he assumed it could have been possible that this was a setup so he can get captured as well.

''...I heard my mom and dad talking about it last night, and then I saw the two guys take her away in front of me when I was gonna go for a walk.'' She tried to sound as convincing as possible so he could believe her, she would never lie to someone like Naruto's father.

He sighed and knelt down to the girl's height and looked her in the eyes, ''Sweetie, did you come here all by yourself?''

''I-I'm sorry...'' Tears formed in the girl's eyes, ''I-I know I'm too young to be walking alone but when I saw that happen, and knowing that it was the lady Naruto-kun cares about a lot, I just had to run here. I knew you were here because-'' Minato engulfed the girl in a warm hug.

''...No need to explain yourself, I believe you.'' He softly reassured, ''I'm going to have to take you home though, I can't just leave a little girl like you all alone in a place that has so many people.''

Hinata was surprised by the embrace, she never received this kind of affection from her own parents. Hinata's parents usually pushed her away when she wanted a hug, or to even just hold their hand. They only allowed it for public appearances, so they wouldn't look bad in front of important people. But, even though she barely knew this man, she felt safe in his arms. Hinata felt like he would never do anything to ever hurt her, she desired a caring parent like him in her life.

_''I don't wanna go home...'' _Were the words Hinata wanted to say, but she knew if she said that... it would only cause problems for this kind man, and Naruto. Hinata merely mumbled a, ''Okay, thank you Minato-san.'' a gentle, but sad smile formed on her lips before she hugged Minato back.

Since they were finished talking, they went to get Naruto. Minato grabbed Hinata's hand firmly, which caused the girl to feel even more safe around him.

When they walked back, they couldn't see the blonde boy anywhere. Minato felt like his whole world just came crushing down all at once, his heart began racing rapidly from anxiety. ''Where's Naruto?''

* * *

><p>AN: I finally finished a chapter -victory dances- I'm going to work on updating my other stories. I have a lot of hopes for this story, hopefully it's sucessful

review please and tell me what you think! :D


	4. No Regrets

A/N: Luckily I've been in the writing mood lately, so I'll be updating more than usual. Heh. But ouch, it kinda hurts writing this story since Naruto will never have loving parents ;_ ;

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to kishimoto, blah blah.

* * *

><p>Immediate fear quickly found it's way in both the Hyuga, and the Namikaze. Hinata felt like crying her eyes out, she couldn't help but believe that this was entirely her fault. Her fault that this was happening to Naruto's family. She silently prayed nothing happened to Naruto, and this was just a nightmare she needed to wake up from.<p>

''Naruto!'' Minato called out his name, having the young Hyuga follow close behind as he searched around. Minato continued to call out the boy's name, and was at the brink of breaking down. First he heard his wife getting kidnapped, and now possibly lost his son as well. If there was ever a time he wanted to shed a tear or two, it was now.

''Is this kid yours?'' Minato's body quickly turned around after hearing the voice, and saw an employee from the zoo firmly grabbing Naruto's wrist.

Minato let out a sigh of relief, ''He was feeding the animals, when the sign clearly says Not to feed them.'' The employee annoyingly explained, as if he had done this over hundreds of times.

Nervously chuckling, Minato took his son's hand with his free one. ''Sorry, I'll keep an eye on my son and make sure he doesn't disturb the animals anymore.''

With that, the employee scoffed and walked away.

Minato had never been so frightened in his life, ''Naruto, don't ever do that again. I thought I lost you.'' he looked towards his son with a pained expression full of worry.

''Sorry daddy...'' Naruto apologized with a frown, ''They just looked so hungry, so I wanted to make them feel better.''

A warm smile grazed the man's lips, ''That's nice of you, but I don't want you getting in trouble. Do you understand?'' Minato said in a firm tone to prove he was serious.

''I understand...'' Naruto hung his head down in shame.

Hinata watched the actions between them, and couldn't help but admire the relationship they had with each other. If Hinata had done anything to disobeyed her parents, they would've merely shunned her and say how disappointing she was to the family. But Minato seemed to be different, he had a more gentle approach. He praised Naruto even after scolding him. He showed nothing but concern for his son when he thought Naruto was missing. Hinata had even gotten lost in the park one time, and gotten intensely scolded by her parents afterwards. The way her parents acted towards her hurt, it hurt a lot. Hinata had no choice but to deal with it, because that's who they were, that's who she had no choice but to live with until she was 18. But for that moment, she envied Naruto and wished she was the daughter of Minato.

She quickly attempted to get that thought out of her mind, she didn't need to cause more conflict for this family.

''Good, but I'm proud of you for having such a kind heart for animals.'' Minato smiled down at him while ruffling his son's blonde spikey hair, causing the boy to smile back with a small tint of red on his cheeks from slight embarrassment. ''Now, we're gonna go take little Hinata here home.'' he explained to Naruto before kneeling down to their height.

''No!'' Hinata suddenly blurted out, then she noticed what she said when the two blondes started at her with widened eyes full of surprise. Her face turned a bright red tomato color when she looked down in embarrassment.

Minato raised an eyebrow at the sudden blurted response from Hinata, ''What do you mean by 'No'?'' he asked, slightly curious. ''Don't you wanna go home?''

She couldn't cry here, no not again. Biting down on her bottom lip, she managed to keep the tears back but knew they'd eventually come out. ''W-We... still need to find that lady.'' Hinata managed to say without crying.

''But it's not safe for you to come with me, I already know the location so just leave the rest to me.'' He said with a reassuring smile.

_'I wanna go home with you and Naruto-kun...' _She wanted to say, but didn't have the guts to do it. ''A-Alright... sorry.'' she said with a frown.

''What lady do you need to find, dattebayo?'' Naruto asked suddenly, making Minato freeze for a minute. He couldn't say that his mom got kidnapped, who knows how he would react.

''I need to find a special lady, it's a surprise.'' Minato winked, hoping his son would fall for the small lie. Although he hating lying to Naruto, he had no choice.

Naruto puffed his cheeks childishly, slightly upset that his dad didn't tell him who the special lady was. ''Tell meeeeeee!''

''That reminds me, I also have to call Grandpa Jiraiya to watch you until I come home.'' Minato stood up and let go of Naruto's hand to take out his cellphone.

He dialed Jiraiya's phone number and waited for him to pick up.

''Nooooo, grandpa jiraiya is weird! I don't wanna stay with him!'' Naruto whined, ''He always looks at girls so weird.'' The boy didn't really understand what it meant to be a pervert, yet.

''Would you prefer grandma Tsunade?'' Minato raised an eyebrow, a sly smirk on his lips.

''No, no... i'll stay with grandpa Jiraiya...'' Naruto quickly agreed, since he was terrified of Tsunade's anger.

''Thought so.'' Minato smiled with a small laugh afterwards, and heard the phone being picked up.

''Hello? This is Minato, I need a small favor.''

* * *

><p>With an exhausted groan, Kushina's eyes fluttered open to realize the situation she was in. Struggling to move, she realized her arms were handcuffed behind her back as if she was being arrested, and was in a cold, empty dark room.<p>

Her body sat against the bare wall, on the cold floor. She shivered from feeling a small breeze as the door suddenly opened.

She looked up at the person who walked towards her, and gave them an intense glare. Kushina wasn't surprised when she met with the gaze of none other than Hanahime Hyuga.

To think this woman would go through such lengths to get revenge, it was pathetic in Kushina's opinion. Sighing, she didn't utter a word to the Hyuga.

''What's wrong Kushina? Are you frightened?'' Hanahime knelt down to the redhead's height, and practically sat on her knees. An evil smirk rested on the Hyuga's lips.

''You don't frighten me.'' Kushina scoffed, rolling her eyes. ''I'm just disappointed you would act like this, we're adults dattebane. We shouldn't be acting so immature.''

The sound of a slap across Kushina's face echoed the room, causing her to wince from the stinging sensation in her cheek. Clenching her jaw, she continued to glare back at the Hyuga.

''Don't you dare sit there and tell me I'm being immature.'' Hanahime snapped ''You know the reason why I despise you and your husband.'' her glare shooting daggers at the redhead, if looks could kill... Kushina knew she would have been dead by now.

''Minato's not the type of person you make him out to be, he had his reasons.'' Kushina defended, ''The only reason you despise me, is because I'm his wife.''

''Exactly, you allow him to act the way he does. Why wouldn't I ridicule you for it?'' The Hyuga woman pointed out, ''He's disgusting, it's surprising he even managed to have a family of his own.''

''Don't you dare talk badly about my husband in front of me.'' Kushina snapped at her, earning another smack in the face that caused her form to collapsed on the ground. Tears were forced out from the painful impact, as they began falling slowly down her reddened cheek.

''Quit defending him, I doubt a low-life like that would even try to save you.'' Hanahime scoffed, ''Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to find your location.'' A smirk grazed the Hyuga's lips as she stood up, ''Enjoy being in here, I'll have someone to deal with you later.'' and with that Hanahime walked out of the room.

Kushina continued to give the woman an intense glare until she walked out, her body boiled with anger as tears streamed down her cheeks. Minato said he had changed, but maybe Kushina was fooled. Or maybe the Hyugas didn't know how to let go of a grudge.

Right now, all Kushina wanted was to be home with her son and husband. She didn't want to remain in this cold room, handcuffed and smacked repeatedly by some insane woman filled with nothing but ridiculous pride for her family's company.

All of this conflict started when Minato somehow ended up having the ridiculous job of sabotaging companies. He made many of them go bankrupt. He worked with a small group of people, and he was paid to work in each company as an employee and slowly gain the trust of the owner and then purposely destroy the business they had. Kushina didn't really understand the purpose of it, and even more... it caused nothing but trouble for them. He was already involved in that entire thing when the two of them got married, and it took a while to finally convince him to quit.

The situation she was in now, was the very reason why she wanted him to quit. There was plenty of other jobs he could have gotten, she never understood what caused him to get involved in so much wrongdoings. He was a kind man, which is why Kushina assumed he was blackmailed into getting involved.

Sighing, she just continued to keep up hope that they'll be some way she'll be able to get out of this place. But she knew well that the only person that'll be able to help her, was Minato.

Sitting up against the bare, cold wall, she tightly shut her eyes closed as tears continued to flow. ''Minato... I love you so much...'' she quietly told herself. Even if it might have been his fault for her being in here, she didn't care. She loved him, he always comforted her with warm hugs, kind words, and his love. She has no regrets on meeting him, she has no regrets on marrying him, she just wished she could be in his arms right now, and be reassured that everything was going to be okay.

_''Kushina, your red hair is beautiful...'' _She remembered every single time he made her blush from having her hair complimented, as a child she always got made fun of for her hair color.

_''Kushina, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.'' _The day he had proposed to her was one of the most amazing days of her life. She stared into his cerulean blue eyes, and hugged him tightly before planting a soft kiss on his lips. Of course she agreed, and she never regretted her decision.

A smile rested on her lips as she thought about those memories, and all those times they made love to each other. Redness forming on her cheeks from blushing about the thought, she was a grown woman but always went weak in the knees for that man.

_''You're the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on.'' _He would tell her in a gentle tone, softly kissing her cheek. His soft, feathery kisses always enchanted her. In her eyes, he was her very own prince charming. Aside from his ridiculous blonde, spiked hair, he had all the qualities of a perfect Prince. From his gorgeous smile, to his unbelievably beautiful blue eyes.

Kushina couldn't believe she was getting so worked up over him, she felt like that 16 year old girl who did nothing but get goofy over boys. But it was best she kept her mind in a positive place, and not get immensely depressed over being trapped in this room.

An idea quickly struck in her mind. She attempted to stand, and used the wall as her support. Managing to stand on her own two feet, she walked as quietly as possible towards the door. She leaned her head against the door, so she could hear what was going on behind it.

''We're not sure why, but he found out our location and is currently on his way.'' An unknown male voice spoke. Kushina wondered if by 'he' they meant Minato.

''Did someone tell him?'' The voice was recognized to be a very angered Hanahime. ''I can't have that blonde nuisance ruining everything like he usually does.''

Kushina felt so much relief, now she was sure that Minato was coming for her. It's unlikely that any other blonde nuisance would be coming. A grin formed on her lips, she knelt down and soon found herself slipping and falling as her head banged against the door with her fall.

''Ouch...'' she groaned, landing on her bottom from the support of the wall.

''Go check on the redhead, while I figure out what to do about Namikaze.'' Hanahime ordered. ''If she acts hostile, don't be afraid to show discipline.''

''Yes ma'm...'' The male sighed and walked towards the room Kushina was in, opening it. Kushina quickly crawled back to the spot she woke up in.

A tall Hyuga with long, black hair walked inside. Kushina would be lying if she didn't think that the Hyugas look way too similar to each other.

''What do you want?'' Kushina rudely asked, with a glare. She wasn't in the mood for another uptight Hyuga to lecture her about nonsense.

The Hyuga grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall, causing her to wince from the painful impact.

''You should try being a little nicer to me, I could be the very one who will take your life.'' An evil smirk that disgusted Kushina formed on his lips, she held back a scoff. She just stood there silent when he mentioned the fact that he could freely kill her whenever he wished.

Kushina shut her eyes tightly, clenching her jaws wishing that this was all just a horrible dream. The only one who could wake her up from it was Minato.

''Where are you?'' She mumbled to herself.

* * *

><p>''Hinataaaaaaaaa!'' Naruto called out, since they started playing a game of hide-and-seek. Right now, Hinata was winning since she was a good hider. She was staying with Naruto and his Godfather until Minato returned, since Minato was concerned over the way she was acting at the zoo.<p>

She stood quietly behind one of the trees in their backyard, hearing Naruto's voice coming closer. Her body shifted nervously, hoping she wouldn't be found.

Naruto looked, and ran around excitedly. He spotted Hinata's foot by the tree, and chuckled with anticipation, sneaking quietly until he reached her.

Shutting her eyes tightly, she smiled with the thought of her finally winning a game of hide-and-seek.

''FOUND YOU!'' Naruto yelled, making the Hyuga jump up from feeling so started by the blonde's voice. Hinata looked to see Naruto beside her, she let out a sigh with a small smile.

''Guess you win then.'' They gave each other a high five, exchanging grins.

''It's fun playing with you Hinata, dattebayo!'' Naruto beamed happily, Hinata was the only real friend Naruto had since he didn't get along with his other classmates too much.

''Mhm.'' she nodded in agreement. ''It's umm, fun playing with you two.''

''Kids it's time for dinner!'' Jiraiya called out, ''Come back inside!''

Hinata took Naruto's hand in hers, and walked back inside with him. A pink blush appearing on her cheeks, along with a soft smile resting on her lips.

Jiraiya laid out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out on the table, then he sat down and began reading one of his Make-out paradise books.

Naruto's eye twitched at the food, ''Peanut butter and jelly for dinner?''

''Yeah, now stop whining and eat it.'' Jiraiya snapped.

''I don't want to! Make me ramen instead!'' Naruto demanded, glaring at Jiraiya who was glaring back.

''Eat it, don't be a brat Naruto.'' Jiraiya groaned in annoyance, then saw as Hinata quietly sat down and began eating her sandwich without a problem. ''Look, your little girlfriend here has no problem with it.'' he pointed out.

''I hate peanut butter and jelly.'' Naruto scoffed before sitting next to Hinata, he looked at her then down at his sandwich.

Shaking his head, Jiraiya went back to reading his book, not in the mood for dealing with Naruto's childish behavior.

Naruto snickered as an idea popped in his head, he tapped Hinata's shoulder. ''Pssst, watch this.'' he whispered. Hinata merely blinked innocently, while eating her sandwich. Naruto picked off a piece of bread from his plate, and tossed it at Jiraiya. He held back a giggle until Jiraiya gave him a glare, and continued reading.

Hinata covered her mouth to hide her laughing, ''You shouldn't do that!'' she whispered back.

''That's what he gets for not making me any ramen.'' Naruto whispered before tossing another piece of bread.

''Naruto...'' Jiraiya closed his book and stood up from where he was sitting, giving Naruto another deadly glare.

Naruto nervously laughed, before getting up and running off; getting chased by Jiraiya.


End file.
